Overall
- Salem
- 103.6
Diff +10.0 RPP
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach vs Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salem is 10.7% more expensive than Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach.
10.7% more expensive
Salem, OR is 10.7% more expensive than Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 93.6). A $100,000 salary in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach buys about the same as $110,686 in Salem; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 93.6 (Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach) vs 103.6 (Salem)
- $100k in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach ≈ $110,686 purchasing power in Salem
- Rents drives the gap (+27.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SC:OR 93.6→103.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE SC × OR
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach would need to be in Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach | In Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,343 | +$5,343 |
| $75,000 | $83,015 | +$8,015 |
| $100,000 | $110,686 | +$10,686 |
| $150,000 | $166,030 | +$16,030 |
$ in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach = in Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.6 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC and Salem, OR sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem is above 100 while Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Salem 27.2 points higher than Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach corresponds to $110,686 in Salem.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Salem
- 105.3
Diff +8.9 RPP
Services
- Salem
- 104.7
Diff +16.7 RPP
Rents
- Salem
- 110.3
Diff +27.2 RPP
| Category | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach | Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.6 | 103.6 | +10.0 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 105.3 | +8.9 |
| Services | 88.0 | 104.7 | +16.7 |
| Rents | 83.1 | 110.3 | +27.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 93.6
Salem 103.6
Goods
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 96.3
Salem 105.3
Services
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 88.0
Salem 104.7
Rents
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 83.1
Salem 110.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach
93.6
Cost Index
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach and Salem share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.8 to 10.0 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 30.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.7 to 27.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach RPP | Salem RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.0 | 94.1 | 0.8 points Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach higher |
| 2012 | 96.7 | 101.1 | 4.4 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 96.2 | 97.1 | 0.9 points Salem higher |
| 2020 | 92.0 | 100.9 | 8.9 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 93.6 | 103.6 | 10.0 points Salem higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salem more expensive than Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach?
Salem is 10.7% more expensive than Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 93.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salem equals $100K in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach?
A $100,000 salary in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach has the same purchasing power as $110,686 in Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach and Salem?
Rents in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach are indexed at 83.1 while Salem is at 110.3 (national average = 100). Salem has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.